aesthyr.

chapter seven

The next morning, Rhiannon and Ivale scanned the marketplace for a merchant selling horses, which they needed six if they wanted to bring the whole group to the grasslands. They would first travel south until they reached the Silent River, cross it over to the land of Terya, stop at the small city of Ravil to buy fur coats, for Terya was a land of snowy mountains and cold, dry terrain. All six of them set aside copper coins for horses, four saddles- Maria and Voidin already had two- and six fur coats. That summed up to one-thousand and fifty coin in total, and the rest of the four hundred coppers they would use for food, shelter, and water. Once they had bought the horses, saddles, and extra food and water to store in their satchels, Ivale and Rhia returned to the rest of the group. Ivale went over to talk to Charlie, while Maria and Voidin were settling their horses down. Rhiannon watched Voidin as he spoke gently to the creature, his warm voice filling her ears. "You ready to leave, Rhia?" Stella asked her as she packed her belongings in her satchel and ran her soft fingers across the flower embroidery. When Rhia didn't answer, still caught up in studying Voidin, Stella spoke a little louder as she repeated what she said. This time Rhiannon snapped out of her gaze, she smiled and nodded, "Mhmm." The six of them mounted their horses and made their way down the cold damp cobblestone roads of Kalnar and into the rocky grounds of the wilderness of Malsar. Stella and Maria led the way across the terrain, with Voidin and Rhia in the middle and Charlie and Ivale in the back, giggling about something. "Do you know anything about the man that attacked me in the alley that night? I met him once at the night market in the Starlands, and he followed me here to Kalnar." Rhiannon asked Voidin in a hushed voice so the others wouldn't hear them. Voidin sat and thought for a moment, a concentrated look brushed over his face. "No, but I got rid of him, just in case you were wondering." He replied, looking into her eyes. She had been wondering, but she wasn't all too curious about what he had done with the corpse of the man she murdered, in fact, she didn't care at all just as long as he was dead and gone, unable to hurt her or the group. She nodded at him and steadied her horse so it wouldn't stray off the path. They came across the silent river at sunset, as the new horses they traded coin in for were a lot faster and healthier than the previous ones that they bought at the night market. Sure enough, right across the river was the little city of Ravil, and when they reached the river, they all felt the cold chill of the wind coming from Teryah. The six of them rode their horses into the gravel streets of the city, searching for a small market. After a few minutes of making their way down the quiet streets of Ravil, they spotted a little marketplace with only a few people browsing through the stands. Rhia and Charlie went to purchase coats and food supplies, while Maria and Ivale went to look for a place to stay for the night, Voidin stayed behind with the horses. Rhia found a fairly large wooden stand dotted with hanging fabrics, furs, and warm clothing, including coats and fluffy parkas. The two girls picked out three black fur coats for Maria, Charlie, and Ivale, two brown slightly fluffed coats for Stella and Rhiannon, and one leather coat with fur on the inside for Voidin. They paid the merchant fifty coin and started making their way back towards the horses. Ivale and Maria were already waiting for them, as they found a small Inn at the end of the street to stay for the night, and a stable to keep their horses for the night. "We hired a stableboy to care for the horses tonight, and we already paid the Innkeeper for two rooms, she was nice," Maria explained to Rhiannon as they walked down the gravel road. Stella, Charlie and Ivale shared one room, and the second room which was attached to theirs was shared between Maria, Rhiannon, and Voidin. Rhiannon walked into the washroom with Maria and they slipped into their nightgowns. When they walked out, Voidin was already asleep, so Maria and Rhia crawled into bed together and rested their eyes.

The next morning, Rhia woke up before the sun came up. She looked down at Maria, who was still sleeping, and then she slowly climbed out of bed. She quietly slipped into her clothes, grabbed her father's journal, and walked out of the room, making her way down the stairs and out of the Inn. She walked down the quiet streets, watching as they filled up more and more with people. The sun slowly rose from behind the mountains, illuminating the wooden buildings dotting the sides of the gravel road. She noticed a tall man watching her from the side of the street, his gaze piercing through her. Just keep walking. The man turned around and walked away as she passed him. She strode down the road on her way back to the small Inn to check on their horses. When she reached the stable she saddled them up, and paid the stableboy ten coppers. She led the six horses to the front of the Inn and went inside to wake the rest of the group. When everyone had gotten dressed, they slipped out of the door of the Inn and into the cool, quiet morning. They rode off into the wild freezing terrain of Malsar.